jmann7364

Here I am getting ready to install new fuel injectors, starter, and knock sensors in my 1998 Lexus LS400. My wife remodeled my office by swapping my book cases with our daughter's book cases when she repainted my office and in doing so all my Lexus stuff was shift has been moved around. Thus I decided that I would go to the website *******.com and get new diagrams instead of searching through my disheveled stuff. I am a registered user and have a user account on *******.com. I logged onto *******.com and was able to get listings of parts and prices but no diagrams. I went to *******.com/Contact us/ and was informed that "the diagrams are no longer available on this site. Toyota Motor Sales Inc. demanded that we remove them, citing copywight claims". I am sure something like the following happened: When folks went to pick up their parts from the dealer parts department they got into discussions about how they could save a lot of money by doing the work themselves since they had access to the diagrams from *******.com. Even though they were making money from selling the parts, when the dealers realized how much labor money they were losing by owners fixing their own cars they started complaining to Toyota about losing money because of the diagrams on *******.com. Thus Toyota demanded that the diagrams be removed from the site. So never mind and keep reading.

I surfed the internet and found a web site which has part name codes, part prices, and diagrams for numerous Lexus models. If you go to https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com and enter the vin number for your Lexus, you will have access to the part name codes, part prices, and parts diagrams for your car. I also found a website www.lexuspartsnow.com which provides many features that other web sites do not provide. For example when dealing with something complicated like the pulsation dampers on most Lexus cars. The pulsation damper clamps the fuel pipe to the fuel delivery rail which holds the fuel injectors. There are 2 washers for each fuel pulsation damper which are used in the following mounting sequence: fuel pulsation damper-washer-fuel pipe-washer-fuel delivery pipe. The https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com web site Fuel Injection System diagram shows that both washers have the same part name code 23270B. If I then go to the lexuspartsnow.com web site and enter the part name code 23270B in the search bar I get a screen with part number 23232-41081 which is the gasket for the damper side and part number 90430-12026 which is the gasker for the fuel delivery side. You can then order the part number from www.lexuspartsnow.com or order the part number from another web site which will keep us out of the Lexus dealer Parts Department. If you do go to the dealer to order the part please do not get into a discussion about the diagrams from https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com. We do not want the dealers to get ticked-off, organized, and pressuring Toyota to remove these diagrams.

I hope this has been helpful but I need to get back to working on my Lexus. I will check in later when finished with the job. My wife wants my car out of the garage because it tying up her work space. Heck! maybe I can cut a deal so that she will paint the garage.

Again, I can get the diagram part name code from https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com and enter this part name code in the search bar at www.lexuspartsnow.com which then allows me to order lexus part number. I hope this helps anyone needing access to these Lexus diagrams.

When ordering knock sensors I learned a few things. I ordered knock sensors a few months ago but did not have time to install them because we decided to remodel the kitchen which took a lot more time than we anticipated. Since ordering these knock sensors my Lexus started having the dreaded starter problems thus I have added a new starter installation to the job. When investigating knock sensors on the web I learned that knock sensors can be problematic in that they might fail in a short period of time, you should try not to drop them because they are very sensitive, they are expensive from Lexus and much cheaper from auto parts folks. The non-Lexus knock sensors seem to be in two groups which are really cheap below a $50 and sorta cheap below $150 with Lexus prices being up around $300. I was starting to worry about them and so I returned really cheap ones and got the sorta cheap ones. Both sets of knock sensors came in a box with some bubble wrap. I kept up with knock sensor prices and noted that the dealer prices started coming down. After all the kitchen remodeling work and being 81 years old I decided that I did not want to risk a knock sensor going bad because of all the work needed to replace them again since the knock sensors for the 1998 LS400 are under the intake manifold and cannot be access without removing the intake manifold. Evidently some earlier models of the Lexus do allow changing the knock sensors without removing the intake manifold if your hands are small enough. So I decided to order knock sensors from www.lexuspartsnow.com. The most important information from this story is the way they were shipped from Toyota. Each knock sensor had its own bubble wrap around the sensor. These knock sensors were placed in a box with bubble wrap. This box was placed in a second box with bubble wrap. Thus the knock sensors were kept from bumping together with 3 layers bubble wrap and 2 boxes which shows how sensitive the dealer knows them to be. It is easy to understand why so many folks have problems with the knock sensors when they are being shipped from most vendors in small boxes with little protection, being purchased across the counter at auto parts locations and being dropped or banged around when being installed.